Smocked dress and dots

I visited family last weekend and took some handwork to do. I also learned something. Not having my smock-gathering machine with me I used the traditional method to pull up the gathers. I ironed on a transfer of evenly spaced dots on the reverse side of the fabric, then picked up each row of dots with a gathering thread. Although its a lot of work, this method does give beautifully evenly spaced parallel gathers.

I haven't used this method for years and in my effort to make sure that the dots transferred well and that I'd be able to see them, I got a bit carried away with the ironing bit. Not only did the dots transfer well, they transferred so well that they are quite visible on the front of the fabric! I decided to keep going.

Which colours to use? I started out using colours that toned closely with the fabric. After seeing how the green and blue almost disappeared into the background, I realised that for the smocking to show up, I had to use something that would stand out more and added in the red row.

Overall the embroidery does seem to camouflage the dots and I hope they will fade further with washing. To be safe I'll probably add in a row of cable stitch at the bottom to further hide those blue dots there. More progress next time.

Canvas Work Pincushion Class

The pincushion class I taught over the last couple of weeks has come and gone. It wasn't just stitching or new canvas work stitches, but lots of sharing of ideas for new embroidery projects...

 

chatting and a cup of tea...

 

 

and a good laugh too!

 

 

Thanks for letting us use your shop Pearl.

 

Wild flowers

A visit to Darling last weekend and the wild flowers at the Tienie Versveld reserve. Such a variety of flowers...

 

 

 

Some of the jewels up close...

 

My favourite...

 

 

There was a long queue of cars to get into the Postberg reserve and the temperature was in the 30's by the time we got there, so we gave it a miss. Next year we'll be there early. We did enjoy the drive home though with carpets of daisies in the fields, swathes of white chinkerinchees right next to the roadway and white frothy ericas in full bloom too.

 

Bayeux Stitch

Recently I did a workshop with Penny Cornell on Bayeux stitch, a stitch that originates from the Bayeux Tapestry. This historical embroidery is believed to have been made almost 1000 years ago in the 1070's and it can be seen in Bayeux, France where it now hangs. It depicts the Norman conquest of Britain and ends with the Battle of Hastings. The embroidery is half a metre wide and almost 70 metres long.


William and Harold in a hunting scene from the Bayeux Tapestry (Wikipedia Commons photo)

The stitching was done on linen and it was embroidered with wool. Stem stitch or outline stitch was used to outline the figures and motifs. These were then filled in with laid threads that were couched down into place. The couching thread sometimes matches the laid threads and at other times contrasts with them.

For my sample of Bayeux stitch, I started by laying down yellow thread and couching it down with the same yellow colour. Then I tried laying down dark green threads and used light green to couch them down. Its was interesting to see how much lighter the dark green appeared with the light green threads overlaying it.

I always find the back of an embroidery interesting, so here it is. You can see that there is almost no yellow or dark green thread on the back because Bayeux stitch makes very economical use of thread.

Finally, I tried laying down light green thread, laying a yellow couching thread on top of it, and using the dark green to do the tiny couching stitches. 

I like the effect of using all three colours together because it has a lively all-over texture and pattern.

I think I need a lot more practice to get those couching lines parallel and evenly spaced, but I did enjoy trying out Bayeux stitch. Perhaps wool, as they used on the Bayeaux Tapestry, is more forgiving? 

Resilience, embroidery and a walk on the beach

My dear husband has spent the last few years glued to his computer working on a book, or perhaps buried in his office like a determined mole is a better description. This left me with time to fill on my own and I have spent quite a bit of it working on my embroidery projects, learning to use a digital camera, which is an ongoing process, and setting up my blog.

Now the book is finished and we have left our chairs and done fun things like going for a walk on the beach at full moon with the Muizenberg Moonlight Meander guided walk group. The walks take place on the Saturday closest to full moon, weather permitting and are free.

View south towards Simon's Town

It's a lovely walk to do along the shores of False Bay with the Hottentots Holland mountains in the distance. Unfortunately the day I took my camera with me the clouds came over as we arrived at the beach and there was no moon rising over the mountains to see or to photograph. Perhaps next time...

Looking towards the east and the Hottentot's Holland Mountains

To get back to Rod's book, the title is The Building Resilience Handbook and its available online through Kalahari books. You can also log on to Rod's website Building Resilience for more information.

The book is a practical guide of how to beat stress and adversity by building your resilience. In the book you will learn practical tools and skills to bounce back from difficult organizational and life events such as significant change, setbacks and hardship. You will also learn how to cope with adversity and emerge stronger and more resourceful.

Sorry it took me so long to put up details about the book. I know quite a few of you were interested in it.

More about stitching next time, when I hope that the unusual snowy weather that has beset most of the country over the last couple of days has cleared up and the weather is getting a little warmer.

'Till then happy stitching!

Long-legged Cross Stitch Corner

I have been experimenting this week with turning a corner with long-legged cross stitch. Its a pretty stitch to use as an edging row on a needlepoint pincushion because it gives plaited or braided effect and its simple to do.

The trouble comes when you get to a corner. How do you turn the corner neatly and get good coverage of the canvas? Below is a diagram of my first attempt to make a compensating stitch at the end of the row. I added in the red stitch 13-14 in the diagram below. 13-14 is half of a long leg of the cross.

Then I continued along the next side beginning with a long leg as usual, 15-16 in Corner 1 below, and so on. It does make a very neat finish on the corner. But, once you turn and stuff the pincushion, there is some tension on the corner and the canvas starts to show through. Just a tiny bit, but enough that I wanted to try and find a better solution. So on to Corner 2.

I did the same compensating stitch 13-14 to end the row. Then I added another two compensating stitches. These are the green stitches 15-16 (half of a long leg) and 17-18 (the short leg of a cross).

Corner 2 looks very bulky before the pincushion is stitched up, turned and stuffed. I don't think I would use it to turn a corner on any embroidery that is going to remain flat. It does however give the best coverage of the corner once the pincushion is turned and stuffed.

I have been through a number of stitch dictionaries and spoken to a number of embroidery friends and I have not yet come up with the answer of how to turn a corner with long-legged cross stitch. I'd love to hear from you if you have any suggestions.

Till next time, happy stitching, and have a lovely weekend.

Paterna Wool, no more

Last week I was very disappointed to find out that Paterna wool will no longer be available in Cape Town.

I will miss it because its the wool I most like using for needlepoint stitching on a 14 count canvas. I use one strand and it gives a good coverage of the canvas. It also has a lovely feel when you work with it.

Flower and Cushion Stitch pincushion

For years, Janet Grey has been the only local stockist of Paterna. She is however no longer able to get it from her supplier in the UK as the owner there has sadly passed away after a long illness and the future of his business seems uncertain. So Janet will now stock Appletons crewel wool instead.

This means a change over for me to using 2 strands of Appletons on a 14 count canvas instead of a single strand of Paterna, but Janet assures me that it works well and also that the range of colours is very good. She has ordered the first batch of Appletons and it should arrive quite soon. For the moment I continue to use Paterna wool for my pincushions.

The exciting news is that after talking about it for years, my friend Beryl Saunders and I are designing some patterns for needlepoint pincushions that we will soon have for sale on Etsy.

The photo above is a preview of our first design. The pattern will come complete with full instructions for all the stitches used in the design as well as the design chart. It will be available in pdf format which means that you can download it immediately, print it and start stitching. I will let you know as soon as the pattern is available.

Bonnet Stitch

Here is my experiment with Bonnet stitch, a new stitch to me but fun to work. It's a line stitch and something like a twisted herringbone with a chain variation. It's the stitch of the week over on Pintangle's TAST - Take a Stitch Tuesday.

I'm not entirely sure which way the upright bit should twist or if it really matters? And talking of twisting, in the top line of stitches on my sample I tried ending the stitch slightly differently: Along the bottom of the row on the left it has a twisted look, like a twisted chain stitch. On the right it looks more like a normal chain stitch. I think I prefer the twisted look. Do you?

Take a look too at the lovely Bonnet stitch piece here on Ella's Craft Creations done with white thread, pearls and crytals and a softly painted background. It's like a breath of fresh air to look at.

Little tracksuits

Another visit by a dear little grandson is over. I was busy in the weeks before he arrived sewing long pants and little zip-up tracksuit tops to keep him warm in chilly Cape Town. He needs little more than shorts and T-shirts in steamy Bangkok. I was relieved when Liam arrived to find that they all fitted him.

To add a little character, I cut out motifs from a cotton print and appliqued them to the tops.

While sewing, I had a few problems with my trusty old Bernina. I kept breaking the double needles! In the end I had to do without them. I use them to give a nice neat finish around the ribtrim and on the elastic top of the pants. For some reason the needle shank of the double needles is smaller than that of a single needle which worked fine.

It turns out that the clamp on my machine which holds the needle was worn and Bernina don't make the parts any more! Luckily I was able to get a second hand part, but it doesn't bode well for future snags with my machine. It also made me realise that I was making tracksuits on it for Liam's mom when she was his age - some 30 years ago. How time flies!

Free Needlepoint Pattern for Pincushion

This little pincushion is quick to make as a useful gift for a special friend. A long time ago I made a slightly larger one for a dear friend. I was pleasantly surprised when I visited her years later and noticed the pincushion on her work space filled with pins and assorted needles all trailing little bits of thread and obviously well used.

Use a variegated thread for a pretty effect. Here is the link to the free needlepoint pattern. Click on the printer icon for your printer friendly copy. I'd love to have any feedback from you, positive or negative.